Thank You

By: Lowell
Published On: 6/14/2006 8:11:56 AM

At the risk of forgetting someone in my exhaustion, I wanted to take this moment to issue some heartfelt thanks to a group of special, talented, extraordinary people. (Note:  Hat tip to James Martin for the pic)

The greatest thanks of all go, of course, to Jim Webb himself, who put it all on the line to step up and help his country.  He didn't have to do this, but he thought the country needed leaderhip so he did.  Jim Webb is truly and American Hero.

Special thanks to my fellow citizen activist/amigos Josh Chernila, Lee Diamond, Corey Hernandez, and Greg Priddy.  All of them were there in the earliest days of this effort, working tirelessly to ensure that Jim Webb was on the ballot in the first place.  Josh and Lee were critical in providing the conceptualization, the intellectual underpinnings, and the vision to this effort.  Along with Greg, they were also crucial in COMMUNICATING that vision to everyone else.  And without Corey Hernandez's amazing efforts in getting DraftJamesWebb.com up and running within about 24 hours of my asking him to do so, it's unlikely this would have happened at all.

Tremendous kudos and thanks go to the amazing, truly incredible Mary Detweiler, a woman who deserves an article or two (or three) just on her role alone.  Wow, what an awe-inspiring job she did during this campaign - always cheerful and upbeat, always professional, always organized, always encouraging, always giving it everything she had.  I don't think I've never met anyone like her in my life, but I'm sure glad I did a few months ago!! :)

Thanks also to a group of amazing, talented, dedicated people who made this happen: Chris Ambrose, Todd Smyth, Antonia Scatton, JC Wilmore, Jim Franklin, Sarah J., James Martin, Laura S., Nichole Herbig, Ingrid Morroy, her husband Jerry, Kathy Nielson, Kevin Ceckowski, Brian Patton, Debby Burroughs, Kathy Gerber, "teacherken," Ralph and Betty Parrott, Susan Mariner, Mike O'Toole, Bryan Spoon, Christi Fanelli, Kip Malinosky, Elaine O'Malley, Ben Tribbett, Kenton Ngo, Paul A., Tony M., Hugo E., Ken C., Ray Anderson, Dannyboy, John Bruhns,  William Edwards, "phriendlyjaime," "Anonymous is a Woman," "Info_Tech_Guy," "Loudoun County Dem," "Howling Latina" (Mimi), Hanh D., Mary Lee C., Mary Johnson, Terry Hartnett, Waldo Jaquith and Maura Keaney.

Oh, and of course my co-Precinct Captain, William Edwards, a great "fighting Dem" who apparently plays basketball like he does everything else in life - all out!

Thanks to the entire RK crew, especially my great friend, not to mention political/mechanical/menu adviser (ok, maybe not "menu") Eric G.

Thanks to Rob for the excellent election day/night coverage while I was busy yesterday, for all his level-headed professionalism and encouragement, and for his great work in general.
And thanks to Dan Fleischmann for his tireless efforts and enthusiasm in support of Democratic and Progressive candidates.

Thanks to the 1,000 people who signed our "draft" petition, and who pledged $40,000 to a Jim Webb candidacy back in the depths of winter.  You guys made this happen as much or more than anyone, when many people thought this was just a joke. Nope, no joke! :)

Thanks to the Webb campaign team, who pulled off what most people thought couldn't be done.  A 7-point victory last night despite being heavily outspent and having only 100 days to pull this all together out of pretty much nothing?  Nice!  Special thanks to Steve Jarding and Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, the two main political geniuses behind Jim Webb's victory yesterday.  Thanks to Jessica and Kristen and Jeff and Jon-Paul and Dan and Pete and Jason and Adrienne and Kevin and...lots of people, let's just say.

Thanks to everyone who endorsed Jim Webb, especially the amazing Leslie Byrne, who came on board early and gave Jim a HUGE boost of Democratic credibility when he needed it most. 

Thanks to Chap Petersen for his strong, early endorsement, and also for being a good friend. 

Thanks to Jay Fisette, for taking such a strong leadership role for Jim in general, and in the GLBT community in general. 

Thanks to Don McEachin for his strong support as an extremely well-respected African American. Thanks to the great civil rights leader, Dr. Milton Reid. 

Thanks to all the Virginia politicians who endorsed Jim Webb, people like Phil Puckett, Patsy Ticer, Owen Pickett, Frank O'Leary, Al Weed, Libby Garvey, Barbara Favola, Mary Hynes, Ed Fendley, Marian Van Landingham, Janet Oleszek, Catherine Belter, Nancy Horn, 11 former Chuck Robb staffers, etc., etc., etc.  Sorry for not mentioning all of you by name; there's a fairly comprehensive list here. You all rock!

Thanks to a wonderful American patriot - and great guy - named Paul Hackett.  I am honored to have gotten to know Paul somewhat during this effort. I hope to meet him in person sometime soon!

Thanks to the national Democrats, especially to our 2004 Presidential nominee John Kerry; it was an honor and privilege meeting him last night!  Thanks to Senators Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, Tom Daschle, Dick Durbin, Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, Ken Salazar, Tim Johnson,  Max Cleland.  Special thanks to Bob Kerrey, for encouraging Jim Webb to run, and for encouraging our "netroots" efforts to "draft" him!

Special thanks to General Wesley Clark, another "former Republican" who has morphed into one of our greatest national Democratic leaders.  Wesley Clark and Jim Webb are exactly what we need in the Democratic Party - former Republicans realizing that the GOP has drifted far, FAR to the theocratic right and also that the Democratic Party offers the only hope for positive, Progressive (in the Teddy Roosevelt/Harry Truman/JFK sense of the word) change in this country.  Clark and Webb both are "netroots" candidates in the best sense of the word.  I am proud to have participated in both "Draft" efforts, and just wish that the one with General Clark had resulted in President Clark in 2004 instead of President Bush!


Thanks to "Clarksters" like Kelly Flinn, Stan Davis, Mitch Dworkin and Howard Park.

Thanks to Mark Warner for holding a highly successful fundraiser for Jim Webb.

Thanks to Tim Kaine and Larry Roberts for being great guys, and for being so professional at all times in this primary race.

Thanks to my former colleagues and friends at the Energy Department, especially Mike, Doug, Charles, and Mark, for encouraging me in this. 

Thank YOU to everyone who thanked me last night at the Victory Party.  I appreciate it, but really this is a victory for all of us and for Virginia as a whole.  In November, it will be a great victory for the United States of America.

Good luck to Shawn O'Donnell, who was at the party last night, and who is running for Congress from the 1st District against JoAnn "Candy Cane" Davis.  Thanks to Phil Kellam and to Andy Hurst, who weren't there last night but who both were very encouraging of Jim Webb's candidacy.  Also CONGRATULATIONS to Andy Hurst, and to his campaign team led by James Walkinshaw.  You guys rock!

Thanks to ACDC Chairman Peter Rousselot and to that great group of Progressive Americans known as the Arlington Democrats.  Yesterday, once again, Arlington came through for Jim Webb, and it was partly thanks to you guys.  Today, as always, I am proud to be an Arlington Democrat.

Thanks to all the teachers over the years who helped instill in me a love of public policy and politics, and the ability to communicate on those issues in a semi-coherent fashion (sometimes, anyway). :)

Thanks to all the readers of RK, and especially to the frequent commenters and diarists.  OK, maybe no thanks to a particularly nasty troll or two, but thanks to everyone else, even/especially those who disagreed with my ramblings and rantings at times.  Ha.

Thanks to all my other great friends and advisers, to my parents, and to my brother and sister.

Thanks to Harris Miller for his extremely gracious, classy concession speech last night.

Thanks to all the Virginia voters who placed their trust in Jim Webb.  I am very confident that you will not be disappointed.

Last but not least, thanks to my wife Kelly, who has been so encouraging and supportive in all of this.  I doubt I could have done it without her.  All I can say is, everyone should have a beautiful, "born fighting," jazz-singing, Scots-Irish soulmate in their life!  I'm incredibly lucky to have one, that's for sure.

PS  Apologies to anyone whose name isn't on this list.  The problem with lists like this is that it's a 100% certainty that you'll leave important people off of it - and I know I did!

Comments



Good Job (Waldo Jaquith - 6/14/2006 9:12:46 AM)
Y'all did good -- though, ironically, the stand-out good you did came not as bloggers, but as activists.  The fact that y'all are bloggers was incidental to the role you played in recruiting James Webb.  You've shown the power of citizen activism, not blogging; blogging is merely a restricted form of citizen activism.  You broke the blogging mold and reminded bloggers that to really get things done, you've got to step away from the computer and start shaking some hands.  And that's a great lesson.


You got it exactly right, Waldo. (Lowell - 6/14/2006 9:37:26 AM)
And the mainstream media keeps getting it wrong.  This is not, first and foremost, about "blogs," technology, or the internet.  It's not about "anti-Iraq liberals."  Instead, it's about citizen activists who care about their state, their country, their constitution, and their freedom. It's about Progressives who care about equal rights for all Americans, about defending the environment, about protecting themselves from government intrusion into their personal lives, and about keeping America safe in a SMART way, not just at the point of a gun.

That's why we do what we do, not because we're "bloggers" by nature or anything like that.  As far as I'm concerned, the blogs are just one tool of many, although an increasingly powerful tool.  In talking to numerous voters yesterday, I don't think I heard a single one say that the blogs made a difference, one way or the other, in how they voted.  On the other hand, I also had numerous people tell me that without our "draft" movement, which began "on the internet," Jim Webb wouldn't have run in the first place.  So who knows.

The bottom line is this: blogs are fun, blogs are intense, blogs are informative (at times), blogs are gaining readership.  But blogs are certainly not the be-all-end-all.  As I think you may have said, there's a lot more to life than blogging.  Thanks God for that! :)



Waldo, Lowell (Josh - 6/14/2006 12:37:30 PM)
These are the two best comments I've ever read on a blog. 


I'm hungover and tired. (phriendlyjaime - 6/14/2006 9:31:46 AM)
But, great post, and thanks to all!  Sweetness.


There you are! (Kathy Gerber - 6/14/2006 9:40:07 AM)


coupla more from me - (Kathy Gerber - 6/14/2006 9:39:40 AM)
And - special thanks to info_tech_guy and all of the informed labor activists out there.

And phriendlyjaime and thaddeus toad!  pj made me laugh sometimes when it did not seem possible.

What moxie!



Last night in Richmond (phriendlyjaime - 6/14/2006 9:49:51 AM)
We had our own little party-check out JC's Richmond Democrat for a pic of him and thadd having a beer at the capital ale house.  We huddled around laptops and rode the emotional roller coaster with a few people.  Then, we went over to the party at Bank.  Some of us went back to Cap ale when we really should have gone home, hence the hangover.  ;)

JC informed me and Nichole that from now on, we are to be kept locked in a room with no electricity or caffeine on election day.  Apparently we are "the hysterical type." ;)



I spent the time after the polls closed... (Loudoun County Dem - 6/14/2006 10:19:44 AM)
Hitting all the precincts in my district to gather Webb signs for use in the fall (some were already gone but I think they were gathered by the poll workers).

This allowed me to relax before staring at my pc for the returns (I was very confident that we did well in Loudoun).

I definitely earned my sunburn yesterday!!!

CONGRATS TO ALL!!!



Hah (Nichole - 6/14/2006 11:08:02 AM)
Two women together..... hyper, and nervous on caffiene.... SCARY. As we said, at least we were not pregnant.


Make a list of all of the people you meet in the next few days who... (Loudoun County Dem - 6/14/2006 10:21:22 AM)
...'forgot to vote' or 'didn't know there was an election'. They are your personal GOTV list for November.


...or 'haven't registered to vote'... (Loudoun County Dem - 6/14/2006 10:23:37 AM)
Get these ones voter registrations (not a link, print one out and have them fill it out and sign it in front of you - offer to mail it in for them).


Lowell.... (Nichole - 6/14/2006 11:10:07 AM)
ROCKS THE HOUSE

We had a great time in Richmond last night, as has been said we stared at laptops for awhile... freaking out.
It reminds me of when Wolf came on CNN and said Kilgore had something like 67% of the vote.

When it finally sank it.... we were all in complete shock.

Tuesday was a wonderful day, one that none of us wil ever forget.



Although I came to the effort (Mark - 6/14/2006 11:26:44 AM)
a little late, due to working for my favorite Congressional candidate, Al Weed,, I busted serious ass to even have a Webb presence in these parts.

Three out of five precincts is a great start for November, when we will elect Jim Webb our next Senator.

Congratulations to all, especially Dan Gray and Jeff Pyatt from the campaign, and all the activists who worked here and at Dkos to refute and set the truth free about Jim Webb.

Kevin Schmidt, anyone?

I will be on the job all summer long, except for that small one week vacation to Nags Head, (which I wish was tomorrow) and we will get the voters out and prove why George Allen has no business being in Washington, let alone as our Senator.

Thanks again to all. I am jazzed!!!!! And I didn't have a party to go to!!

Mark Brooks
Chair, CCDC



Forgot to Mention (Mark - 6/14/2006 11:31:05 AM)
Joe Stanley, whose energy and artistic talents are beyond compare. Thanks, Joe.


my own role in this is minor compared to that of (teacherken - 6/14/2006 11:27:22 AM)
people like Lee, Lowell, Josh and the crew.  I was a relative latecomer to this site, although I have been supportive of the idea of Jim running since early November.  My professional responsibilities (and I include my participation in Yearlykos in this category because I was running the education panel) and the commitment I had alrady made to assist electronically a number of Congressional candidates limits the time and energy I have been able to offer -- because of lack of sleep over a week I finally crashed around 1:30 this monring for almost 8 hours, the most sleep I have had in about a month.

I am honored to have been a part of this effort, but also know what we have done is but a first, small step.  We had 2,500+ volunteers, but were not organized as well as we could have b een to take advanatage of the talent and energy they offered us.  Jim had to spend so much time raising money and going to events for visibility that he has not yet fully fleshed out issues positions that he will have to have for the forthcoming campaign.  To his credit he knows it, and it is a major priority, one in which I am honored to have been asked to participate.  There is major outreach needed to heal some of the divides from the primary, and he knows that as well.

We are allowed to take today off, if necessary.  But as of tomorrow this campaign has to be a priority for all of us.  NEVER go anywhere without some indication of your support for Webb -  I am in the Starbucks on Harrison St in Arlington with a Webb button on, and a Webb rally sign in my car's back window for visibility.  Without being a pest, start talking up Jim whenever your can to friends and neighbors.  Print down your own copie of brochures as they become available and distribute them -- remember, wew were outspent 3-1 in the primary, and are likely to be outspent at least 2-1 in the general, but there are things we can and must do to leverage what funds the campaign does have available. 

This is an absolutely unique opportunity.  Because of the background of the two candidates, there will be a lot of free media available.  If you are likely to talk to the press, we need to run some media training sessions.  Lowell by now is used to talking with the press, and I am becoming so.  Just think of the efffect of a strategically placed soundbite in the media -  how many votes was I perhaps able to get because Chris Cilizza quoted me about if Kerry was no longer bothered by past differences with Webb why should anyone else be?  If as "ordinary voters" we are able to communicate in clear and quotable ways our individual reasons for supporting Jim, this can become a phenomenon like McCain's straight-talk express was in 2000.

One other thing, and this is important.  It might have happened anyway, but because of the credit Jim gave bloggers last night, the media will be watching far more closely what we say.  Keep that in mind as you post.  LOike it or note, we are considered as representatives of the campaign and of Jim, and even if our relationship is not official (although I think one may fairly conclude that mine is becoming at least semi-official) the press will not make that distinction in what they write.

Congrats to all who helped.  get some rest today, but then back to work.



Sharon and John Miller (Newport News Dem - 6/14/2006 1:42:27 PM)
I want to offer kudoes to the aformentioned couple who put in time and put UP MONEY for a great event this past Sunday in Newport News.

There were several "undecideds" who came away Webb voters!



Can I have my wife back for a little while? (JMariner - 6/14/2006 4:44:11 PM)
Susan Mariner and the rest of the Tidewater volunteers were awsome in their dedication. Dan, Marcy, Nancy, Zeke and all the rest of them were stunning examples of how the netroots can come together and change the face of politics today. I am proud to be a part of the group that Webb described as people who

".. have, at the moment, not a lot of money, a candidate who has never run for office, and 2,500 rag-tag rebels who have volunteered for what many may think is a hopeless, quixotic journey."